HotelChatter

Opt to stay in one of the cottages, if there are any available. Split it with one other person and the price will be fairly reasonable. Some cottages offer a view of the beach. Each cottage comes with a little verandah. It's great to just sit out there on a cane chair in the evening with your pals, gazing at the ocean and drinking a nice cold bottle of beer.

The kitchen offers some great seafood and the service is usually good, but somehow the food quality on this trip didn't match that of my last trip, in October 2004.

You can always trot on down the road to Pedros if the fare at L'amour does not suit your tastebuds. If you prefer to work up an appetite, you can also walk along the beach to Colva and find a place to eat.

Benaulim is not usually tourist-ridden (if you don't like crowds), and offers a fairly clean, quiet stretch of beach compared to the Baga or Calangoot beaches.

The best time to be in Benaulim (in my opinion) would be late October, just before the season begins. The prices are just about right this time of year.

Barring the food, I would still go back to L'amour on my next Goa vacation. Of course, for me it holds loads of great memories, starry nights and afternoon swims. That's what keeps me going back.